Cabot Phillips (2:20)

The eyes of the world turn to South Korea for President Trump's High stakes meeting with China's Xi Jinping.

Georgia Howe (2:27)

Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips is here to break down what happened at the big meeting, as well as what other deals the president has already locked down during his swing through Asia. So, Cabot, we'll get to the G meeting, but first, tell us about brokered yesterday.

Cabot Phillips (2:40)

Yeah. President Trump arrived in South Korea looking to finalize the framework of a trade deal that's now been months in the making. So, for context, over the summer, he threatened to impose those 25% tariffs on all South Korean goods coming into the U.S. and he let them know that if they wanted those rates lowered, they would have to make massive investments in the American economy. And now they have. On Wednesday, they followed through in a big way, finalizing a deal that will send $350 billion stateside over the next decade. Among other things, that deal will include the purchase of about $50 billion in Boeing aircraft manufactured in the U.S. there's a multibillion dollar partnership between the Korean Air Force and U.S. defense contractors, and new partnerships between U.S. and Korean rare earth mineral companies. South Korea also pledged to purchase millions of tons of American natural gas and then invest billions more dollars in American energy refiners. The list goes on and on. You can see it's a very big deal. Now, in exchange, American companies like Amazon will invest billions of dollars in new projects in South Korea, helping them build out their cloud infrastructure. And also, this is kind of a fun one. NASA is going to help launch a Korean satellite to study space radiation. So a lot going into this for both sides. But perhaps most importantly, as part of the deal, Trump has now reportedly agreed to lower tariffs on South Korean goods from 25% to 15%. Here he is speaking to the impact of his tariffs on Wednesday.

John Bickley (3:59)

Not only are the tariffs strengthening our alliances, they're all also bringing peace to the world. My administration has rejected the old model of incompetent government, punished success, and rewarded failure. We're making America the best place on Earth to do business.

Cabot Phillips (4:14)

And it's worth noting, ahead of those final negotiations, Trump got the red carpet treatment once again. And he got just a royal treatment.

Narrator/Reporter (4:21)

To say the least.

Cabot Phillips (4:22)

First, he was gifted a replica of a historic Korean crown of gold. And then he became the first American president to ever receive South Korea's highest honor, the Grand Order of Mung Hwa.

Narrator/Reporter (4:32)

To honor your achievements in paving the way toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Tim Piercey (4:37)

Six years ago, and in anticipation of.

Narrator/Reporter (4:39)

The peace and prosperity you will bring to the Korean Peninsula, we present you this medal with Our deepest appreciation.

Georgia Howe (4:47)

Okay, so now let's turn to the big showdown between President Trump and Xi Jinping.

Narrator/Reporter (4:51)

Well, first, this meeting began late last night for us here in the U.S. but here's what's taking place as of this recording, Things started with some really unexpected drama when just minutes before the meeting kicked off, President Trump issued a stunning social media post saying, quote, because of other countries testing programs, I've instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately. Now, for context, the US has not tested any nuclear weapons for the last 33 years, and the timing of that message is no accident. In the last week alone, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had successfully tested nuclear powered nuclear capable cruise missiles and a torpedo. And North Korea also claims to have conducted missile tests of their own. But it seems clear this was directed more than anyone at Xi himself, who's overseen a historic nuclear buildup in China, growing their arsenal lately at just an alarming pace. For the Pentagon, however, despite that apparent warning, once the two met, just a few moments later, it was all smiles, with Trump cracking a joke as they shook hands.

John Bickley (5:54)

We're going to have a very successful meeting, I have no doubt, but he's a very tough negotiator. That's not good.

Narrator/Reporter (6:01)

And then, for his part, Xi complimented President Trump on the growing list of peace deals that he's brokered and called for the same steady leadership. Now, at one point referring to the relationship between the US And China as a giant ship that must simultaneously be steered by two captains, here's President Trump giving his reaction to the meeting afterwards aboard Air Force One.

John Bickley (6:21)

It was an outstanding group of decisions, I think, that was made. We're in agreement on so many elements. Large amounts, tremendous amounts of the soybeans and other farm products are going to be purchased immediately, starting immediately. Many other things like that. We on fentanyl, we agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow. You know, it's a very complex subject because it's used for lots of different reasons, including anesthetics and things.

Narrator/Reporter (6:59)

Remember, coming in here, the stakes were extremely high, with both sides threatening even higher tariffs on November 10th without a deal. For his part, Trump came in with a pretty clear wish list for Beijing. He wants assurances that they're cracking down on fentanyl production and also the opening up of sales of rare earth minerals. China controls about 90% of the global market there. He also wants China to increase their purchasing of American soybeans and other agricultural products. Now, Xi could also curry favor by cutting back on Russian oil. Remember, China is the largest consumer of Russian oil and they've helped prop up their economy in the face of sanctions from the US Trump feels that the war has gone on because of that. Now, on his end, Xi wants the US to lift its restrictions on chip exports to China and also allow Chinese companies to more freely invest in the American economy. He's also likely to call on Trump to walk back his support of Taiwan, which Beijing of course views as Chinese territory. But that's going to be a tall order. Ultimately, again, we'll have to wait and see how this all plays out. What we're hearing from both sides. They are confident a deal is going to get done and might already be done. And Wall street seems to agree. On Wednesday, the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all hit record highs. We saw the same thing in China early Thursday morning as the country's largest market there hit a mark not seen since 2015. Investors are clearly thrilled by the seemingly looming deal. We'll see if that optimism is rewarded again. We'll have all the latest on dailywire.com.

Georgia Howe (8:23)

Cabot thanks for reporting.

Narrator/Reporter (8:25)

Absolutely.

Georgia Howe (8:28)

The House Oversight Committee has recommended that the Justice Department investigate the Biden White House's use of an auto pen to sign official presidential actions. In a 100 page report released this week, Republicans charged Biden staffers with covering up for an increasingly senile president and taking action without his knowledge.

Cabot Phillips (8:47)

Here to talk about the Oversight Committee report is Daily Wire reporter Tim Piercey. Tim, so what actions exactly do the Republicans want? The doj?

Tim Piercey (8:56)

Well, they want the DOJ to take a deep look at this because many of the actions that Biden took or appeared to take may not have been valid. Committee Chairman James Comer asked Attorney General Bondi for a comprehensive review of all executive actions taken during the Biden presidency. He also asked for special attention to be paid to White House Dr. Kevin O', Connor, Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini, and Senior Advisor to the First Lady Anthony Bernal. They all pleaded the fifth during the House investigation. House Speaker Mike Johnson described the report as a blockbuster in a press conference.

Dr. Aaron Cariotti (9:27)

On Tuesday and This report includes 47 hours worth of transcripts and testimony revealing that every executive action signed by the auto pin without written authorization from President Biden should be voided. This is an unprecedented situation in American politics and government. The actions of President Biden simply were not all his own actions, and there are major implications to that, including all the pardons that he signed.

Tim Piercey (9:56)

Now the report is titled the Biden Auto Pen Presidency Decline, Delusion and Deception in the White House. And it has a lot of nuggets in the House. Interviews with the top Biden officials. For instance, Biden's chief of staff, Jeff Zients said that as the president declined mentally, everything at the White House slowed down. More meetings were required, more time was required in order to make basically any decision.

Cabot Phillips (10:18)

As we said at the top, this report includes a lot about the top aides of Biden allegedly covering up his mental decline. Has there been any action taken so far regarding that?

Tim Piercey (10:28)

Yeah, well, there is an ongoing DOJ investigation into that. But in addition to that, Comer sent a letter to the D.C. board of Medicine asking for a review into Oconnors work as the White House doctor. The report says testimony indicates that o' Connor may have succumbed to political pressure and hid Biden's health decline from the American people. Comer said the medical board should consider whether o' Connor issued misleading medical reports, misrepresented treatments or failed to conform to standards of practice in violation of D.C. law. If any violations are found, the D.C. board of Medicine could discipline O' Connor to the extent of even revoking his medical license.

Cabot Phillips (11:05)

All right, so some potential consequences for o' Connor there. Now, the House Judiciary Committee also released documents this week related to Arctic Frost. That's the FBI investigation. We already know that. It swept up eight Republicans phone records. There's some more information that came to light this week. Tell us about that.

Tim Piercey (11:23)

Yeah, this comes after House Republicans revealed last week that this operation received sign off from top Biden officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, his deputy Lisa Monaco, and then FBI Director Christopher Wray. On Tuesday, the committee released documents that show 150 Republicans may have been scrutinized because of this. President Trump said on Truth Social that the thugs responsible should all be investigated and put in prison. He also called former Special counsel Jack Smith, who led that investigation, a criminal. Here's House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan talking about Smith on Fox News.

Jim Jordan (11:57)

Then with Jack Smith, what we've learned is it was much broader, much more expansive than we ever thought. This is the same Jack Smith who we already know spied on eight United States senators. Now we learn all this and this is why we want Jack Smith in front of our committee in a deposition format after we get the documents and we can ask him some of the same questions we ask his deputies that they took the Fifth to.

Cabot Phillips (12:21)

It sure sounds like Republicans can't wait to grill Smith under oath.

Tim Piercey (12:25)

Tim, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having Me on.

Cabot Phillips (12:29)

Canada's euthanasia program known as maid, is rapidly expanding with some groups calling for minors as young as 12 years old to be included in the government funded program.

Georgia Howe (12:39)

Here with the details is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presto. Giacomo. So, Amanda, we've reported on this, on this show before, but just give us some background. What is the MAID program and what exactly is its stated purpose?

Amanda Presto (12:52)

Yeah, so maid, which stands for Medical Assistance in Dying, it's effectively a euthanasia program funded by the Canadian government. It started back in 2016 for people whose natural death was, quote, reasonably foreseeable and they wanted to end their lives. And we've only seen expansion since then, particularly in 2021, when chronic illness and disability became included as reasons for someone to be euthanized. Every year since its inception, more and more people have had these procedures. Now, thousands of Canadians do this annually. In 2023, it was more than 15,000 Canadians, about 5%, almost 5% of all deaths in Canada.

Georgia Howe (13:33)

So thousands a year and that number is expected to increase.

Amanda Presto (13:36)

Yeah, that's right.

Georgia Howe (13:38)

So let's talk about those expansion efforts. There are advocacy groups that want more people, including minors, to have access to this. What exactly are they looking for and how would that work Regarding consent for minors?

Amanda Presto (13:51)

Yeah. So advocates, they want children as young as 12 years old to have access to the MAID program. Currently, you have to be 18 to be considered for these procedures. The general argument is that children need more autonomy in their health care. And the MAID program, you know, after all, is supposedly about compassion. Advocates also note that minors can already consent or refuse certain procedures. So permitting this would be consistent, they argue. And finally, advocates will point to the Netherlands as precedent. They'll say that assisted dying for so called mature minors has been legal since 2002. As for consent, one advocacy group called Dying with Dignity Canada, they recommend that minors between 12 and 15 years old, they have parental consent to be euthanized, but they don't recommend that, that for, you know, minors 16 and 17 years old. Now that's, you know, shocking to hear, especially in America. And, you know, I wanted to learn more about this, so I reached out to Dr. Aaron Cariotti. He's a psychiatrist, an author, and a director at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. I asked him if he thought this movement for, you know, mature minors to be included in this, if this is, you know, fringe and unlikely or something that, you know, could happen pretty soon in Canada. Here's what he told me.

Dr. Aaron Cariotti (15:10)

A few years ago, I would have said, no, I don't think the Canadian regime is going to go that far to have so called mature minors, adolescents avail themselves of euthanasia. But now, sad to say, I wouldn't put it past them. And there is a kind of gruesome, relentless logic at work here. And this is why the logical slippery slope argument is a valid argument. And the reason it's a valid argument is once you cross the line of allowing doctors to kill patients, once you cross the line of accepting the basic premise of the euthanasia movement, which is that some lives are not worth living and therefore these people should be killed by the medical profession, then it's very hard to argue that there should be any limitations.

Amanda Presto (16:02)

In addition to advocating for minors to be permitted in this program, there's already a very strong push in Canada to have people who suffer solely from mental health to be involved in this program that's actually set to take effect in 2027. Dr. Cariotti told me that it's actually already happening in Canada.

Dr. Aaron Cariotti (16:19)

I remember one case of, I believe it was a 27 year old female woman in her 20s whose sole diagnosis was autism and ADHD, neither of which are terminal conditions. Even if it's not officially legalized in Canada yet, that psychiatric conditions can be used as the sole criteria for euthanasia. There have been reported cases in the literature where clearly that's been happening already.

Amanda Presto (16:46)

Now, euthanasia is not legal in the U.S. however, there are a number of states that do permit assisted suicide. So this is a domestic movement that we're watching closely here and it certainly has been influenced by our neighbors up north.

Georgia Howe (17:00)

Well, a disturbing trend. Amanda, thanks for reporting.

Amanda Presto (17:04)

You're welcome.

Cabot Phillips (17:05)

Thanks for waking up with us. And for those listening to the show, you can also now watch the show for free on Daily Wire. Plus, we'll be back this evening with more news.

Tim Piercey (17:13)

You need to know.